Ieq Capital LLC Purchases 40,117 Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 320,472 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,117 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Pfizer were worth $8,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Gladius Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Pfizer by 102.8% in the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,043 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38,015 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Joseph Group Capital Management raised its position in shares of Pfizer by 168.3% during the 3rd quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 1,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $25.86 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $26.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.44. The firm has a market cap of $146.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Pfizer Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $31.54.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The company had revenue of $17.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. Pfizer’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Pfizer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.65%. Pfizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Pfizer from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI upgraded Pfizer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Pfizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.92.

Insider Transactions at Pfizer

In other Pfizer news, Director Ronald E. Blaylock purchased 19,457 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.65 per share, for a total transaction of $499,072.05. Following the purchase, the director now owns 27,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,684.55. This represents a 235.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pfizer Profile

Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic, migraine, and women's health under the Eliquis, Nurtec ODT/Vydura, Zavzpret, and the Premarin family brands; infectious diseases with unmet medical needs under the Prevnar family, Abrysvo, Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, and Trumenba brands; and COVID-19 prevention and treatment, and potential future mRNA and antiviral products under the Comirnaty and Paxlovid brands.